Roger Hodgson Tells Supertramp Not To Perform His Songs

By Paul Cashmere

Fri, 23 Apr 2010 07:53:28 +1000

Roger Hodgson was angered this week to discover that his Supertramp co-founder Rick Davies was to tour Europe using the Supertramp name but not inviting him or the other key original member Dougie Thompson to join the band.

Hodgson, the main singer and songwriter from Supertramp and who wrote the bulk of the Supertramp hits, has called on Davies to honor an agreement and not perform his songs.

"Since this is the first time we are touring simultaneously since we split up 27 years ago, I expect Rick to honor the agreement he and I made that the band would not play my songs,” Hodgson said in a statement.

“Since the current Supertramp is a vehicle for Rick’s music, which is very different from my style and songs, it’s important for Supertramp to stay true to Rick’s style and songs and avoid doing covers of my songs. Rick and I both knew that doing that would help create a clear delineation between Supertramp and Roger Hodgson when we agreed to part ways.”

The Davies fueled Supertramp European tour is being promoted as a reunion tour even though it is missing original members.

The advertising for the show also includes Hodgson’s songs ‘Dreamer’, ‘The Logical Song’ and ‘Give A Little Bit’ even though the Hodgson voice won’t be there to sing them.

The wording of the Davies Supertramp tour is also confusing fans. “To celebrate 40 years in the business, Supertramp are back. With their 70-10 Tour, and they come to London's Amazing o2 Arena for a special one-off show!

Band members past and present come together in a brand new stage production and as this is their Greatest Hits Tour,” the press release reads.

It is also refurred to as a reunion. “Tickets for this one-off Reunion show are sure to sell out fast and be in very high demand!”

Hodgson is also on tour at the moment. A paragraph in his press release says “Roger announced his World Tour last November. When he heard recently that Rick might do a Supertramp tour this fall as well, he was surprised and immediately sent an email to ask Rick if this was true. Rick never replied, so, obviously, Roger is not part of that tour. Nor was Dougie Thompson from the classic line up invited. Other musicians scheduled for the Supertramp Tour expressed surprise when they were invited so soon before the first dates were announced”.

Roger Hodgson, formerly of Supertramp, is set to release his first album in ten years on October 26 in Europe and in November in the U.S. with Classics Live. This new set collects performances of some of his best loved songs from different venues around the world in arrangements ranging from acoustic to full orchestra.

Former Supertramp singer and songwriter Roger Hodgson has spoken exclusively to Undercover to explain his reaction in the past week to news that his former band-mate Rick Davies was going on tour as Supertramp without him and performing songs that he wrote and sang.